Archive for Karl Bunyan

Posted in The Futility Closet and originally a quote about judging literature, this statement feels like it can equally be applied to board games:

"As readers, we remain in the nursery stage so long as we cannot distinguish between taste and judgment, so long, that is, as the only possible verdicts we can pass on a book are two: this I like; this I don’t like.

For an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don’t like it; I can see this is good and, though at present I don’t like it, I believe that with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don’t like it."

Also, since recording the episode I've been able to play Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar and so far it stands out as the big "gamer's game" of the show, especially of those that had the usual pre-show hype. Hopefully we'll be able to get a review together in the near future.

Following the nominations for the Spiel des Jahres awards we go into a bit of a discussion about the games and make semi-random (or maybe completely random) predictions for the winners for the main prize and the Kennerspiel, paying more attention to K2 (which we reviewed in episode 9) and Village (which we'll be reviewing soon).

We have a small crop of games that we either had a glimpse of or just completed missed from Essen 2011 including Hawaii, Power Grid: The First Sparks and Hasbro's innovative Risk Legacy. There also a ton of news featuring both Hasbro and Hobbit movie tie-ins including:

Games Workshop may be busy chasing Pirate Bay for putting up files to allow the printing of miniatures on home 3D printers, but meanwhile it looks like Nato have found a way to get around copyright laws with what looks to be a homemade copy of Dreadfleet:

1) If we post about a Kickstarter project, we’re essentially implying our readers should donate to it. Everyone makes their own spending decision based on their own feelings and research of course – but it can still be the case that for many of our revered readership, the deal wasn’t even on the table until it appeared here.

The article makes some good points, and in case anyone's interested #2 is one of the main reasons I don't look into Kickstarter that much and don't have an urge to talk about it. Read the rest of the article anyway and let it feed into your own reading of Kickstarter coverage anyway. And if anyone has any opinions, I'm also interested in the answer to RPS's question:

Quote:

Again, our decisions will be ultimately our own and, as with the Kickstarter stuff itself, mob rule won’t force our hand, but I am very interested in what those outside the gaming press feel are the essential factors and best practices in this brave new world of paying for a game before it exists.